Using Big Data to Identify Trends and Patterns in OSHA's Chemical Exposure Health Data

Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Convention Center 

As part of its mission to ensure the health and safety of American workers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) maintains the Chemical Exposure Health Data (CEHD) which contains sampling results from OSHA compliance inspections. While others have used limited subsets of these data for analysis, we utilized the entirety of the available data to identify the potential presence of hazards by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. After significant data cleaning, we identified 1,349,070 personal, 63,806 area, and 150,066 bulk samples of various substances collected across over 900 industries between 1984 and 2024. After excluding substances with fewer than 100 measurements or that did not represent a chemical exposure, a total of 285 unique substances were identified, ranging from 103,535 (inorganic lead) to 100 (hexylene glycol) measurements. To demonstrate the advantages and challenges of working with such a dataset, we have used personal airborne lead exposures as a case study for the types of industry-specific analyses that can be conducted. This analysis demonstrates the value of the CEHD dataset in helping OEHS professionals identify potential exposures in specific industries and provides preliminary information on the upper-bound estimates of potential exposure that may exist.

M. Vahora, Benchmark Risk Group, Chicago, IL, USA
B. Roberts, Benchmark Risk Group, Grand Rapids, MI, USA 

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Asbestos, lead, and dust

Exposure Assessment